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TES: The largest network of teachers in the world
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Table of Contents
Just Your Everyday Social Kinesthetics
Broad Question
Which gender is generally faster?Specific Question
Does the variation of gender affect the speed of ascension of the first flight of stairs by middle schoolers?Hypothesis
It is hypothesized that male middle school students on average move 1 second more quickly on the stairs than female. This is based on the hormones found in most male middle school students and the energetic and roudy behavior usually created by it.Graph of Hypothesis
Variables
Independent Variable: Gender of middle school student
Dependent Variable: speed of ascension of the first flight of stairs by middle schoolers
Variables That Need To Be Controlled:
Students going down the stairs not included, students same set of stairs, Middle School students included, same point of observation, students affected by presence of camera excluded,Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation
Set of stairs- also known as a stairwell, a stair case, or stairs, used for ascending to another floor by footMiddle School- Grades 5-8
General Plan
For this experiment, students were observed as they moved up the school stairs next to the library, for the purpose of finding which gender of middle school student moves faster up the stairs. This was determined by video recording and then reviewing the tape while recording the time it took for them to get up in seconds with a stop watch, rewinding when necessary. There were other side notes taken including the number of steps, 1 for one step at a time and 2 for two at a time and side of the stairwell with a range of -2 to 2, -2 being the left and 2 the right. The experiment was done over the course of five days, and once it was completed the information was put into a table and graph and analyzed to determine any trends.Potential Problems And Solutions
Problem: No student is unaffected by the cameras presenceSolution: Disguise camera
Safety Or Environmental Concerns
Someone looks at the camera, trips on the stair and injures self.Resources and Budget Table
Data Table
Timeline
3/5 -Complete design and collection of most materials
3/6-Run test of the set up, without collecting data
3/8-Run first official trials of the experiment, collect data
3/16-Complete all trials of experiment and all data collection
3/21-Complete all data analysis; mean, median, range, graphs
3/29-Complete results and conclusions write up
Background Research
"Teenage boys are the most dangerous drivers on the road. Right? Well, they still have higher accident rates than teenage girls. But in a new survey, the girls say they speed more often, and text while driving at higher rates than the boys." ~ Road WarriorA new study by the Allstate Foundation finds nearly half (48 percent) of teenage girls surveyed said they are likely to speed more than 10 mph over the speed limit (in a car) compared to 36 percent of teenage boys
The average 13-year-old girl was 62.6 inches tall in 2002
The average 14-year-old girl was 63.7 inches tall in 2002
The average 13-year-old boy is around 66 inches tall
The average 13-year-old boy is around 68 inches tall
Reference
Works Cited" Average Teenager Weight." UNP. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.unp.me/f150/average-teenager-weight-49290>.
"Girls Drive Faster Than Boys." Road Warrior. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <roadwarrior.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/10095/do-girls-drive-faster-than-boys/>.
"Growth Charts - Clinical Growth Charts." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/clinical_charts.htm#Set1>.
"The Average Height Of A Teenage Girl | LIVESTRONG.COM." LIVESTRONG.COM - Lose Weight & Get Fit with Diet, Nutrition & Fitness Tools | LIVESTRONG.COM. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/259005-the-average-height-of-a-teenage-girl/>.
World, Disabled. "Average Height to Weight Chart - Babies to Teenagers." Disabled World. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/height-weight-teens.shtml>.
Detailed Procedure
Photo List
Video cameraVideo camera from stairs
Video camera looking at stairs
Scientist working with camera
Average Distance Inside the Stairwell Between Genders
Results
All Raw Data
Graphs
Photos
Data Analysis
The male middle schoolers ascended the stairs with an average time of 3.1 seconds and the female middle schoolers with a time of 3.4. The male participants on average ascended the stairs 70% of the distance from the center to the right side of the stairwell, the female participants 50%. The males on average took 1.4 steps at a time, the females took 1.05 at a time.Conclusion
Does the variation of gender affect the speed of ascension of the first flight of stairs by middle schoolers? This was the question asked in an experiment with an independent variable of middle school gender and a dependent variable of seconds taken to ascend the stairs. The average male middle schooler will ascend the stairs faster than the average female middle schooler. This was the answer to the question. The average time taken ascending the stairs was 3.1 seconds for males and 3.4 for females. On average, males ascended 70% of the distance from the center of the stairs to the right, while females ascended 50% of the distance. The average steps taken with each pace was 1.4 for males and 1.05 for females.Discussion
The question of the experiment was “Does gender affect the speed of ascension of a flight of stairs by middle schoolers?” This question of the experiment was answered. The answer was that the average male middle schooler will ascend the stairs faster than the average female middle schooler. The main evidence found to support this is the average time of each gender, males on averages are 8.8% faster than females. Other evidence includes the side of the stairwell taken by each gender, male being 70% of the distance from the center of the stairwell to the right side, female being 50% of the distance. This affects the speed because the distance along the inside of bend is is shorter than the distance along the outside. The results of the experiment strongly supported the hypothesis. Research shows that the top ten fastest males in the 100 meter dash are faster than the top ten fastest female in the 100 meter dash. The fastest female can run at a speed of 10.49 meters per second, the fastest male 9.58 meters per second. Using this data, it was found that the theoretical maximum running speed for a male was 9.2 meters per second. This data shows that the data found in the experiment on stairwell ascension can be found in other cases involving gender and speed, and supports the results of this experiment. A trend found in the data was the decrease in the time in the participants who took one step at a time (as opposed to two at a time) took 35% less time going up the stairs. There is not a strong relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable when looking at pairs of data, but when looking overall there is a holding relationship.The design of the experiment was difficult to create due to finding a camera viewing point that would not affect the results of the participants, which was supposedly found. During the experiment, the participants coming up would not see the camera perched over the balcony until they came level with it, but those coming down could not help but smile or wave (or ridiculously dance) on their way down, affecting other participants, ruining large pieces of video. This was taken care of by only selecting those who were not altered during the experiment. An alternate solution to this conundrum is suspending the camera in mid-air by wires, or using a one-way stairwell. The technology used during this experiment included a camera with a tripod, a computer and a timer. In the future if this experiment is repeated, perhaps a way of suspending the camera on the ceiling or disguising the camera would be a useful technology that could be implemented for better results.
Benefit to Community and/or Science
The knowledge gained through this experiment could be of some benefit to advertisement companies who have posters fit for a certain gender and need more information on where that gender is more likely to be looking. This may also be of use for middle school safety on the stairs, perhaps placing monitors in the hall when a large number of males from a meet of some sort come trampling through the hallways, to prevent someone from getting hurt. On a larger scale, this data could be used in heavy traffic areas, perhaps in Boston Mass. or NYC, where a large building or public transport system is being built to modify the hallways into lanes to better suit the individual gender.Abstract
This experiment's question was "Does gender affect the speed of ascension of a flight of stairs by middle schoolers?" To answer this, an experiment was conducted over the course of two weeks on the overhang of a stairwell. A camera was set up at an angle on the overhang so that the entire first leg of the stairwell was within what the camera was recording. The camera recorded the stairwell in the morning of each school day for two weeks. The SD cards were then extracted and then observed on a computer, a scientist looking for trends in the data. It was answered the average male middle schooler will ascend the stairs 8.8% faster than the average female middle schooler. Other data and observations were found to support this answer.